The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania apparently is following the adage that if you're going to ask for something, might as well make it something big.

The association dropped its list of spending priorities for 2008 on state lawmakers today. Here are the big tickets the group would like to address, all with a big price tag: roads, bridges and transit; a new law to lessen overcrowding in county jails; new options for counties to raise funds for county programs besides a county property tax, the only current option in most counties; new ways to enhance 911 services; a new recycling fee for counties; and more power to preserve state farmland, such as granting tax breaks.

Dave Coder, Greene County commissioner and president of the CCAP, said counties are responsible for maintaining 4,000 bridges in the state, but Act 44 of 2007, the transportation funding act, provided only $5 million more in bridge funding, for a total of $40 million.

"This falls far short of the $100 million in annual capital costs for county bridges," Mr. Coder said.

Also, many county jails are overcrowded because of a law permitting judges to decide where to send prisoners facing terms of 2 to 5 years -- either to a state prison or county jail. The commissioners want such prisoners sentenced only to state prisons, to ease the overcrowding of some county lockups. Of course, such a move would increase the state prison population, which is already 46,000, or 5,000 over capacity.

"Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that allows sentencing of those in the 2 to 5 year range to serve that sentence in a county jail without regard to county capacity or costs," Mr. Coder said.

Counties also need help to pay for newer, more costly changes in the 911 emergency call system, he said. They also want tax changes "that allow county officials to reduce their reliance on the property tax by using more equitable funding sources."

Mr. Coder said real estate taxes don't "equitably or reliably reflect a homeowner's economic condition -- his or her ability to pay. Both personal income taxes and sales taxes are more sensitive to an individual's economic condition."

Currently, only two counties, Allegheny and Philadelphia, have a separate 1 percent county sales tax on top of the state's 6 percent sales tax. They also can levy a tax on retail alcoholic beverage sales.

Commissioners also would like the Legislature to reinstate a local administrative fee that pays for county recycling programs, such as household hazardous waste collection and electronics recycling.

Legislators will consider these requests, as well as demands from dozens of other special interests, before adopting a new 2008-09 state budget, which goes into effect July 1. House and Senate budget hearings and discussions will formally begin after Gov. Ed Rendell makes his budget proposal for the next fiscal year on Feb. 5.

The state Fish and Boat Commission issued an updated advisory on which fish caught in state streams should be safe to eat.

The standard advisory is no more than one meal per week of recreationally caught sport fish. One meal is considered to be a half pound fish for a 150-pound person.

But there are additional restrictions for fish caught in areas where they are more prone to contain mercury or PCB contamination. "Enjoying outdoor recreation in Pennsylvania's beautiful countryside is a great pastime and it's important to our tourism industry," said DEP Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty. "No one should be discouraged from fishing or eating fresh fish in moderation. We just want to make sure anglers have the most up-to-date information when they fish Pennsylvania's waterways."

For more information, and a complete list of advisories, go to www.fish.state.pa.us.